


Sea of Hyrule

by OctolingO



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24998470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctolingO/pseuds/OctolingO
Summary: It’s a LinkedUniverse mermaid AU, because I have nothing to do with my life
Comments: 18
Kudos: 111





	1. Chapter 1

Twilight woke with a start as an all-too-familiar smell reached his nose: blood. 

He swam across the Hero’s Grotto, shaking Warrior’s shoulder. The blonde merman awoke, blinking and making the golden scales above his eyes sparkle—a motion that typically made any merman or mermaid in a fifty foot radius swoon.

“Twi, it’s like 2 am.” Warriors said, voice still thick with sleep and with a slight lisp on the ‘s’ sound: a quirk of his sea snake heritage. “Why don’t you go bother someone else?”

“Because you’re a good fighter. And I smell blood.”

“Ah, your so called ‘shark-sixth-sense’. Are you sure you didn’t just bite your lip in your sleep again?” Twilight ran a tongue over his sharp and pointed teeth. 

“No, I didn’t.” He said with certainty. “Besides, that only happened once.”

“Twice.” Warriors corrected. Twilight rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, Snake Boy.” 

  
  
  


The two heroes arrived at the source of the smell within about a half an hour: a Hylian with the tail of a koi, fending off two Bari with a silvery spear. Twilight flared the jet black fins on his forearms, baring his teeth and readying himself to go into the fight, but Warriors spoke first:

“Wait. I think this kid can handle it.” As they watched, the Hylian boy dispatched the Bari in a flurry of long blonde hair and flowing golden fins. He turned to Twilight and Warriors, bright blue scales glowing against his skin. Though the boy did not look injured, twilight could not hold in his concern.

“Are you alright?”

_ I am fine.  _ The boy signed.  _ I just have a small cut on my back.  _

“If you come back to the Hero’s Grotto with us, Hyrule can heal it.” Twilight suggested. Realizing this boy didn’t know who Hyrule was, he elaborated: “Hyrule’s a healer.”

“Give us a minute.” Warriors said, flashing the boy one of his shining grins. The boy, unfazed, shrugged. Warriors turned and spoke in a low voice to Twilight. “Are you sure about this? We just met this kid.”

“I trust him.” Twilight said. “And he said he’s hurt.”

“I just don’t want this to end up like Midna.” Warriors said, thinking back to the dolphin-tailed mermaid who had stolen Twilight’s heart, then run away and subsequently shattered it. Warriors, who hadn’t been very trusting of strangers  _ ever _ , was even less so after seeing what it had done to his best friend. Twilight bit hip lip, not meeting Warriors’ gaze.

“I dealt with Midna. If the kid runs off, I’ll deal with that too.”  _ Yeah, but you didn’t deal with it in a good way.  _ Warriors thought, thinking to how Twilight had handled Midna’s betrayal. Warriors had had  _ way _ too many nights coming back to the grotto—which had just contained himself, Twilight, and Wind at the time—and finding Twilight passed out on the cold stone floor, bleeding from shallow cuts on his shark’s tail. 

“Look, Twi, if you want to help him, I’ll help you. I just don’t want you to get hurt again.” Twilight gave Warriors a smile that just barely showed the tips of his teeth. 

“Thanks.” He said. The two mermen turned back to the boy, who was waiting expectantly with his hands on his hips. “Do you want to come to our grotto?” 

_ I will come. But I do not know if I will stay.  _ Signed the boy.  _ I’m Wild.  _

“I’m Twilight. This is Warriors.” 


	2. Chapter 2

“Did you bring back  _ another _ stray, Twi?” Legend asked irritably as he awoke to find Hyrule tending to a blonde long-haired boy. 

“His name is Wild.” Twilight responded, taking a bite of his breakfast—a tuna, which he insisted did not count as cannibalism. 

“Okay.” Legend said. “Why’s he here?”

“Me and War found him last night. He said he’ll stay until he feels like leaving.” Twilight explained.

“I was a quote-on-quote ‘stray’ too, Legend.” Four pointed out from where he sat, idly flicking his tail and making the black scales shimmer shades of red, green, blue, and violet. “I didn’t ruin your life.”

“I never said he would ruin my life.” Legend muttered.

_ Just because I can’t speak doesn’t mean I can’t hear.  _ Wild signed. Legend flushed, turning his face the same pink as his fins. 

“Who’s going to explain to Time and Malon when they get back?” Sky wondered, cocking his head and highlighting the green and yellow scales that covered his cheeks and ran down his back. 

“I will.” Warriors said. 

“Time might take his anger out on you, you know.” Hyrule pointed out. He brushed one of his brown fins away from his face—unlike his companions, the merboy had fins that curved from his cheeks and away from his face, mirroring a seahorse’s fins. “He wasn’t too happy when Four showed up.”

“There were already eight people living at our grotto, if you count Malon.” Four argued. “And I was not exactly ‘easy to maintain.’”

“No, you were not.” Sky agreed, thinking back to Legend and Four’s violent fights during the latter’s first few days at Hero’s Grotto (two merboys with beta fish heritage, and male beta fish were notoriously territorial—they had not gotten along). 

“Who is this?” A slightly annoyed and deep voice said. It was Time, swimming into the grotto with Malon just behind him. The merman’s sailfish fin was flared along his back, making his already intimidating figure even more so. 

_ Hello sir.  _ Wild signed before Warriors could say anything.  _ My name is Wild. Twilight and Warriors said I could stay here.  _

“They did, did they.” Time gave the two aforementioned mermen ‘we’ll talk later’ looks. “And you won’t cause any trouble?”

_ I certainly won’t try to, sir.  _ Wild shook his head, blonde hair flowing.  _ I can work and such if need be.  _

“As long as you behave, you can stay.” Time decided. “Work shouldn’t be necessary.” Malon, who had been floating next to Time, swam forward.

“Hello, Wild. I’m Malon.” She fondly ran her eyes over the other merfolk in the room. “I suppose I’m the lucky mother of these seven boys.”

_ You must be very capable, ma’am.  _

“Please, Malon is fine. If it’s not too much trouble to sign, of course.” 

_ It shouldn’t be that difficult, M-a-l-o-n.  _ Wild replied, spelling out Malon’s name. Malon smiled.

“Your blue scales are very nice.” Hyrule commented, blushing slightly as everyone turned to look at him. “I haven’t seen scales like that before.” He elaborated. 

_ Thank you.  _ Wild said.  _ I do not remember how I got them, though my mother told me it was a gift from my father.  _

“You don’t remember?” Wind asked. “Why’s that?” Legend slapped the boy with his purple tail. “You don’t have to answer.” Wind amended. 

_ I will. I suffered a fatal injury when I was younger. It put me in a coma for a few years. When I awoke, my memories were gone. I am working towards regaining them.  _

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Malon said. Wild shrugged. 

_ Don’t be. I have already made peace with it.  _ The other boys looked at each other, as if trying to imagine what losing their memory would be like. 

“So, Wild, what do you do for a living?” Time asked. “Twilight herds sea cows, Warriors… has a complicated profession, Sky is a professional manta ray rider, and Legend is a jewelry designer.” Wild gave Legend an odd look, and Legend returned the look with a venomous glare.  _ I suppose it isn’t too odd.  _ Wild reasoned as he looked at Legend’s rings, earrings, and choker.  _ He seems to enjoy accessorizing.  _

_ I do not have an official job.  _ Wild signed.  _ I do whatever people will pay me to do.  _

“Sky!” A mermaid suddenly exclaimed, swimming into the grotto. She had an elegant white-and-pink koi’s tail, similar to Sky’s red-and-yellow one. She waved to Wild before turning and talking to Sky. “Something’s attacked Groose.” Sky tensed at the mention of his tiger shark tailed bully-turned-friend.

“Is he…” Sky said, voice quiet. Sun shook her head.

“He’s alive, and our healers say he’ll stay that way.”

“Good. What attacked him?”

“From what he’s said, it was a group of moray eel tailed merfolk.”

“We need to investigate this.” Time said. “As you probably remember, Lana was attacked by a similar group.” Warriors subconsciously fingered a strand of his blond hair as he thought of his orca tailed friend. 

“I will help.” Warriors said. Twilight nodded, ever the protective one. 

“So will I.”

_ I feel as if I should.  _ Wild signed. 

“Then this might as well be a group mission.” Legend grumbled, stretching and hearing a bone in his shoulder pop. “I’m getting too old for this.” 

“You’re 16.” Four said dryly.

“ _ I’m getting too old for this. _ ”


	3. Chapter 3

As the nine mermen swam (Malon having stayed to look after Hero’s Grotto) towards the underwater plateau of Skyloft, Sky was unable to contain his worry. 

“What if the mermen attack him again?” The koi-tailed boy fretted. “What if he’s poisoned and they don’t know about it? What if—“

“Sky.” Twilight said, turning his head to meet Sky’s light blue gaze with his own cobalt blue one. “It’s going to be fine.”

“But how can you  _ know _ , Twi?” 

“I don’t.” Twi said honestly. “But the healers said he would be fine. And if they say he will, he will.” Sky sighed, scratching at a patch of green scales on his neck. 

“Alright. Thanks, Twilight.”

“Anytime.” Twilight replied. Sky swam up and began chatting with Time about something, probably what they would do once they got to the infirmary. 

_ You seem to be good friends with the others.  _ Wild signed. Twilight shrugged.

“I owe it to these guys for helping me. It’s the least I can do.” Said the shark-tailed boy. 

“Guys, we’re getting close.” Hyrule said. Since seahorses were inherently slow swimmers, he had a hand on Warriors’ shoulder and was being towed along. True to Hyrule’s word, they were approaching the infirmary of this section of the Sea of Hyrule, set inside the skeleton of a massive leviathan. 

The nine mermen swam into the infirmary, and were met by a red-haired mermaid with a dolphin tail swimming up to them. She smiled shyly at Wild.

“Hello.” She said to him with a wave. 

_ Hello M-i-p-h-a.  _ Wild signed.  _ These are new friends of mine.  _ Mipha waved at the others, who did one of three things: smiled (Twilight, Wind, Time), waved (Warriors, Four, Sky), or looked away (Legend, Hyrule). 

“What brings you here?” Mipha asked.

“We’re looking for a new patient,” Sky began, “named Groose. He’s a close friend.” 

“Ah, yes.” Mipha said with a dip of her head. “Follow me, please.” Mipha led the nine of them past a large selection of kelp curtains, presumably hiding sick merfolk from prying eyes. Towards the back of the skeleton, she pulled back a curtain of greenish-blue kelp, revealing Groose: sitting in a chair, chatting amiably with Sun—who had swam off right after delivering the news of Groose’s injury to Sky. 

“Hey, Sky!” Groose said, grinning upon seeing Sky. 

“Don’t ever go get hurt like that again.” Sky muttered, already wrapping Groose in a hug. 

“I didn’t mean to, but sure.” Groose replied. He ran his eyes over the other heroes in the room. “You must be the friends Sky keeps telling me about.” He said. “I wonder if I can guess who is who…” He pointed at Time. “You’re Time.”

“Correct.”

“Which would make you Twilight.”

“Right, but what makes you say that?”   
  


“Sky said you’re basically Time’s son.” Groose deadpanned. If it was possible for a merman to choke on water, Twilight would’ve. “You’re Warriors…?”

“Yep.”

“Sky did say your tail was weird.”

“Hey!” Warriors cast an indignant look at Sky. “My tail’s not weird! It’s unique!”   
  


“Which is just another word for weird.” Legend pointed out, a smirk on his face. Groose pointed at him. 

“You’re Legend.”

“Dang it. Gave myself away”   
  


“And you’re Hyrule, right?”   
  


“Yeah.” 

“So, then…” Groose respectively gestured to each boy as he spoke. “Four and Wind?”   
  


“You got it!” Wind exclaimed. Groose eyed Wild.

“I haven’t met you yet.”   
  


_ I’m Wild. It is nice to meet you.  _ Wild signed. Groose blinked. 

“Well then, hello Wild.”   
  


_ Hello.  _

“So, you said you were attacked by eel-tailed merfolk?” Sky asked, trying to reroute the conversation. Groose nodded. 

“Yeah. I was in the middle of swimming to watch a manta ray race, and they just kinda shot out from under some rocks and attacked me.” He said. His hand drifted up to a scar on his shoulder. “It hurt a lot. Apparently eels have teeth.” 

“Do you know why they were attacking you?” Time said. Groose shrugged. 

“No. Maybe they just thought I’d be an easy target and they were looking for someone to attack.” Wild started signing, trying to get the other’s attention, but they didn’t notice. The blonde boy snapped his fingers.

“What is it?” Twilight said, looking at Wild.

_ Did they have masks on? _ Wild signed. 

“Yeah, they did. I didn’t remember that until you mentioned it.” Groose realized. “The masks had this upside down Sheikah symbol on them. That ring a bell with any of you?”

_ Y-i-g-a.  _ Wild signed.  _ Organization that wants to kill me. Or just the Heroes of Courage in general.  _

“Which applies to us.” Legend said disdainfully. “And here I was thinking that after Ganon we’d be able to go back to our normal lives.”   
  


“Don’t remind me of that.” Hyrule muttered. All the heroes, save for Wild, had engaged in a massive battle with a ten-foot-tall merman that had squid tentacles for a tail. He’d called himself Ganon. 

_ You fought G-a-n-o-n too?  _ Wild signed quickly. Four nodded. 

“Did you?” Asked the merboy.

_ He caused the fatal injury that made me lose my memories.  _

“So, you’re a Hero of Courage too.” Twilight said. 

_ I believe so. And the Y-i-g-a used to work for G-a-n-o-n. Even now, they’re hoping that killing us will resurrect their master.  _

“Which means we have yet another mission to go on.” Legend whined. “Come on! I was just starting to mine rubies!”   
  


“These Yiga will disrupt all our lives if we don’t stop them.” Time said. “Groose, where were you when you were attacked?”   
  


“I was just about a mile short of Lon Lon Racetrack.” Groose replied. 

“Then we know where to go.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s this? A storyline?


	4. Chapter 4

“What do you think we’ll find when we get to the Racetrack?” Wind wondered as they swam. 

“Hopefully nothing fatal.” Twilight muttered. 

“Way to ruin the mood, Shark Boy.” Warriors said. “I honestly think I could use a little battle to loosen my muscles.”

“You should never wish for conflict, Warriors.” Time scolded. “The more peaceful our encounters, the better.” 

“Wild, how difficult are the Yiga to defeat?” Wind asked. 

_ Not difficult so much as annoying.  _ Wild signed, though it was difficult to interpret the signs since he was swimming.  _ They teleport around a lot. _

“Great.” Legend muttered. “As if Wizzrobes weren’t enough.” 

“Shh, we’re getting close.” Four said, lowering his voice. “We don’t want to give away our position.”   
“Don’t tell me what to do.” Legend snapped, fins flaring, but a hand on his arm from Warriors calmed him down. However, Legend and Four still glared at each other as they all swam through Lon Lon Racetrack. The Racetrack itself used to be a hotspot for manta ray racing, but the newer track near Skyloft had essentially pushed Lon Lon out of business. There was a nearby bar of the same name that had stood the test of time, as Skyloft Racetrack refused to sell alcoholic drinks. At this point, Lon Lon Racetrack was nothing more than a forgotten tourist spot, and occasionally a place for drunken merfolk to hold bets. Time had more than his fair share of stories like that, most of them involving him as the victim of a bet. 

They swam into the Racetrack’s center, and Time realized that being quiet wouldn’t help them if they were out in the open and in broad daylight. 

“What are we looking for again?” Asked Warriors in a normal volume.

“Anything suspicious.” Sky answered. 

“You mean like that?” Wind pointed at an upside down Sheikah symbol painted on a side of a bleacher stand. 

“Yeah. Exactly like that.” Sky sounded impressed, and a little wary. “Let’s investigate, I guess.” 

“We need to be on our guard.” Twilight warned. 

“We always are, Shark Boy.” Legend said, rolling his eyes. The nine of them swam through the curtains hung on either side of the bleachers, and Time realized this was not a good idea. It was hard to see, and the posts holding up the bleachers meant maneuvering was just as difficult.

“Uh… guys?” Four said. “This might have been a mistake—” He was cut off by a dull  _ thud _ as one of the Yiga smacked him with the hilt of a sickle. What seemed like a swarm of Yiga came from seemingly nowhere, holding the other eight merboys in headlocks. Twilight sunk his teeth into the hand of his attacker and got in a good, solid punch before being knocked out in the same way Four had. 

“Your small friend was right.” One of the Yiga said in a nasally voice. “This was a big mistake. At least for you guys.” It cackled, and the others joined in. 

“Where did these guys even come from?” Legend muttered, thrashing and trying to break the hold his attacker had on him. Wild looked as if he had the answer, but his arms were pinned and he couldn’t sign. 

“Doesn’t matter where.” Warriors replied, voice strained. “We need to get out of here.”   
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen, Child of the Serpent.” A merman said, swimming from behind a pole. He was significantly more intimidating than the other Yiga, prompting Time to realize that this was the Yiga leader. 

“Child of the Serpent?” Legend mocked. “What are you, old?”

“You would do well not to speak like that.” The leader snapped, and he jerked a hand in Legend’s direction. The Yiga who had Legend captured tightened his hold, almost completely cutting off his air flow and completely cutting off his ability to speak. Legend tried to pry the Yiga off with his webbed hands, but to no avail. Warriors hissed at the Yiga, yet he didn’t make a move to attack—a wise choice. 

“What do you want from us?” Time demanded. 

“I want nothing more than to repay an ancient favor.” The leader said, in a tone of voice that made Time want to shudder. On the sand, Four rolled over and groaned. The Yiga didn’t even turn its head, obviously not concerned. 

“What  _ favor _ ?” Sky asked, voice dangerous. 

“That one—” the Yiga pointed at Wild, who went still and pale. “Killed our first leader. We intend to use him and his friends to resurrect Ganon.” 

“You wouldn’t  _ dare _ .” Warriors snarled. 

“Oh, I most definitely would.” The Yiga laughed. 

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Time said under his breath, suddenly snapping his head back and smashing it into the nose of his capturer, who shouted and released him. Time spun, tail thrashing and the fin on his spine flaring wide, wide enough to catch a Yiga in the face and slice open the pearly mask. The Yiga leader flared his own fins, which Time noticed with a start were lined with sharp metal. Time himself had no weapon other than his own two fists and his back fin; as he didn’t have sharp teeth like Twilight, or a tail that could constrict like Hyrule, or venom like Warriors (though neither Warriors nor Hyrule liked to ever take advantage of their attributes). Time punched another Yiga in the face; the one that was holding Legend. It staggered backwards, letting go of Legend in the process—who fell to the ground, gasping for breath. 

“You dare resist?” The Yiga leader challenged. He lashed out a hand, and Time had to flick his tail quickly to move out of the way of those metal fins. 

“Darn right we dare resist.” Warriors said, taking advantage of the chaotic situation and breaking free of his own hold. Warriors freed Hyrule and Wild, with Hyrule swimming towards Four and Twilight to make sure they were alright, while Wild signed something so rapidly that Time couldn’t figure out what he was saying, but the expression on his face made it clear that whatever he was saying was not good. He tackled one of the Yiga to the ground, ripping off its mask, which revealed a startlingly pale face with deep set dark eyes. The Yiga bared its teeth, which appeared to have been filed into points, but Wild paid it no mind. He wrapped his hands around one of its arms, and with startling precision, fractured it. The Yiga screeched. 

Wild ignored it. The long-haired boy slammed the mask against one of the bleacher poles, breaking it in two and effectively giving Wild a powerful set of blades. Time took a split second to appreciate Wild’s innovative weaponry before returning to the fight. Sky, surprisingly, did not free himself. He seemed pretty adamant with keeping to as pacifist as he could possibly be, but once Wind got free and was doing his best to beat up the Yiga, Sky threw his pacifist nature out the window. He easily escaped from his captor’s hold and swam over to Time so the older man would have some backup in fighting who was clearly the most competent one of the clan. The Yiga laughed, sounding more than a little crazed, as he swung wildly at Time and Sky. The two of them nimbly dodged the bladed fins, save for one sloppy dodge that earned Time a shallow cut on his forehead. 

“Your blood will help in our master’s resurrection.” The Yiga said in a low voice, and Time was caught off guard. He clapped a hand over the wound on his head, though it wasn’t bleeding down his face. Ignoring the rest of the jeers the Yiga leader made at him, he lashed out with his tail and sent the Yiga leader flying, where he slammed into a bleacher and did not rise. 

“Chief Karsa has fallen!” One of the Yiga shrieked. “Quickly, we must get him to our shaman!” Two of the Yiga lifted Karsa, and then all of them disappeared in swirls of red ribbon and orange energy.

“Care to explain the teleporting?” Legend spun on Wild. 

_ I was going to tell you they could,  _ Wild signed angrily,  _ but my arms were pinned.  _

“Is everyone okay?” Time said, helping a mostly conscious Four up. Twilight was being healed by Hyrule, as his nose was clearly broken from the Yiga’s punch. 

“None of us are dying, if that’s what you mean.” Legend snapped. 

“We’re fine, Old Man.” Warriors said, doing a quick check of himself. 

“Mostly.” Hyrule corrected. He finished healing Twilight, who blinked open his eyes and coughed. 

“What…?” Twilight was clearly confused. 

“We defeated the Yiga.” Sky said. Twilight nodded slowly. 

“So, I guess there were indeed Yiga near Lon Lon Racetrack.” Four said. 

_ We should tell someone.  _ Wild signed. 

“Yeah, but who?” Legend said. “It’s not like there’s anyone who’s a better fighter than we are.” 

“Maybe not just one person, no.” Wind said with a hand on his chin. “Do you think the Sage Knights could help?”

“Most of them.” Hyrule guessed. “I know some aren’t great fighters; Mipha, Makar, Oren, and Saria for example.” 

“The others could help, though.” Warriors pointed out. 

“True.” Time agreed. “It’s settled, then. We’re heading towards Hyrule Castle to speak with the Sage Knights.” He looked around at the eight merboys in front of him. “Right after we tell my wife.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive me for taking so long ;-;
> 
> Also my birthday is in 7 days (September 1) so that’s exciting


End file.
